Washington: Native American and Alaskan
women are suffering rates of rape and sexual violence nearly
three times higher than the US national average, Amnesty says
in a new study released recently.
The Human Rights Watchdog said a complex maze of
tribal, state and federal jurisdictions often allowed men to
rape with impunity, creating a vicious cycle that emboldened
rapists and led to more attacks.
The study cited Justice Department figures which
indicated that American Indian and Alaska native women were
2.5 times more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted than
women in the US in general.
The figures said more than one in three native women
would be raped in their lifetime, although that figure may in
fact be substantially higher because of a traditional
reluctance to report sex crimes.
"Native women are brutalized at an alarming rate, and
the United States government, a purported champion of women's
rights, is unfortunately contributing to the problem," said
Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA.
"It is disgraceful that such abuse even exists today.
Without immediate action, an already abysmal and outrageous
situation for women could spiral even further out of control."
The Amnesty report "maze of injustice: the failure to
protect indigenous women from sexual violence in the USA"
said many rape investigations stalled as officers tried to
establish who the investigating authority was.
A dearth of trained sexual assault nurse examiners at
Indian Health Service facilities also meant native women do
not get timely response from police and sometimes never
received basic forensic medical examinations.
Amnesty accused the US government of undermining
tribal justice systems by consistent under-funding.
It cited the example of the 2.3 million acre standing
rock sioux reservation spread across North and South Dakota
which occasionally has only one police officer on duty to
cover the entire region.
Amnesty said women reporting rape or sex crimes in
standing rock often had to wait hours or days before
receiving a response from police.
Alaska was the rape capital of the USA, Amnesty said
citing FBI statistics. Between 2000 and 2003, one study found
that Alaskan women in anchorage were roughly 10 times more
likely to be raped than other women in the city.
To tackle the problem, Amnesty called on Congress to
increase funding to the Indian Health Service in order to
train and employ more nurses qualified to examine victims of
sex attacks.
Amnesty also demanded the federal government provide
necessary funding for police forces on Indian reservations
and in Alaskan native villages.
Bureau Report